How to Write a Guidebook

It's hard to describe tropical breezes if you haven't felt them

Whether you're a seasoned traveler with a passion for describing destinations or a writer who wants to craft a guidebook, this article can help you refine your focus, find your voice and communicate the flavor of the most exotic places on the planet. You'll need a clear goal before you start, but the rest can be mastered if you follow the tips in this article.

Things You'll Need

• Travel experience
• Target audience

Instructions

1. Write what you know, not what you've read about. It's possible to compose a guidebook without having been to a destination, but your work will be missing what separates a decent read from a great one: heart. Your South American trek to Sugar Loaf Mountain will say far more about what another traveler can expect if it's taken from the notes in your journal than from a library book or an Internet site.

2. Choose a focus. Decide whether you want to tackle the entire country of Australia or just create a guide to the outback. If you've traveled extensively in a country, it can be tempting to cover the entire territory. Focus the book on a distinct hook; for example, "The Adventurous Woman's Guide to Australia," and you can use all of the information you've gathered to write a one-of-a-kind guidebook within that framework.

3. Find out what's already been written about the destination you have chosen for your guidebook. The chances that your work will stand out from the crowd will rely a great deal on how unique the information you've gathered has been presented. Any number of writers can put together a great guidebook on Ireland. Put a spin on the topic by following the travels of Irish rebels over the past century and you'll grab the attention of those who couldn't care less about another detailed listing of Dublin pubs.

4. Identify your audience. "The Adventurous Woman's Guide to Australia" has an implicit target. If your guidebook doesn't have one, you can stay true to your mission if you understand to whom you are writing. Find a magazine photo of a person who best represents the audience you want your guidebook to appeal to and then tape it to your monitor. Write directly to that person and you'll stay true to your goal of reaching your audience.

5. Choose one of 10 styles travel writers frequently use to formulate their guidebooks. These are: advice ("Costa Rica on $5 a Day"), here and now ("Carnival in Rio"), round-up (Reviews of the same place by 10 different people), how-to (survive in Japan if you're on a budget), what-to-do (while you're visiting Ottawa), a history of (the Orient Express), humor (Trapped in a brothel in Nevada when a dust storm broke out), destination (The only guide you'll ever need while you're in Lichtenstein), gimmick (Tour the places Henry VIII's wives lived) and personal experience (How I survived a drive to Disneyland with four kids in the back seat).

6. Draft and edit your guidebook until you are satisfied with the work. Ask a friend with editing skills to review the work and check for the spelling, syntax and grammatical errors that so often escape writers when they are too close to the project. You may wish to hire a professional editor. Find editors on the Internet or call the English department of your local college to see if they can help you find an editor close to home.